Gotta Be Somebody
by Verbophobic
Summary: She was a marine for gods sake! So then why did she feel like crying? Perhaps it wasn't true what they said about marines. Perhaps not all of them are invincible. Maybe some do break and fall. Or perhaps she had it tougher than the rest of her team. With insufferable twins making her the primary target of their pranks what else was she supposed to do besides cry?
1. Chapter 1

**Gotta Be Somebody**

Summary: She was a marine for gods sake! So then why did she feel like crying? Perhaps it wasn't true what they said about marines. Perhaps not all of them are invincible. Maybe some do break and fall. Or perhaps she had it tougher than the rest of her team. With insufferable twins making her the primary target of their pranks what else was she supposed to do besides cry?

Rating: M+ (anything that falls into that + section will be posted on AO3)

Pairing(s): Sunstreaker/O.C./Sideswipe

Chapter One: Marine's Don't Roll On Their Comrades (No Matter How Pissy They Are)

Deep breaths, a girl reminded herself as she lifted the sniper scope up to point towards her target. The sable rounds were exchanged out for practice rounds to keep her top of the line skill up to par. Breathe in and- she screeched in surprise and the chilly feeling that coated her body forcing her heavy cammies to stick to her and weigh double. Sputtering out as much water as she could she looked around and saw the streaks of red and yellow retreating. Shivers racked her and she regretted choosing this time of night to practice. While yes it was quieter and gave her more opportunity to focus, the desert still got freezing over night.

Picking her gun up she grimaces as water poured out of it. Damn, there went her paycheck. Sloshing her way to report to Captain Lennox only after unloading her gun she saw that most of the Cybertronians were still awake and they obviously heard her wet steps for they all looked at her and watched her go. Several gave her pitied looks but she held her head high and ignored them. She was a marine after all, and Marines were never dissuaded by menial things like nearly drowning under fifty gallons of water.

With her jaw clenched tight she knocked on Captain Lennox's office door. When he opened the door she saluted him, "Sir, if I may have a word with you, Sir." She said in the way she had been taught. While here on this base they were more slack about things as this ans she needed not stand as rigid or keep her eyes forward she still did. Training had beat this into her.

"Lieutenant Corporal Mitchel?" Captain Lennox said in surprise. He was not really shocked about her late night visit due to having requested (ten minutes ago) to train late, but the pullde of water that was forming below and around her got him. What had she been doing? Did she dive into the pool for water training?

"Sir, I regret to inform that I destroyed a rifle, sir!" She was being way too formal for this time of night.

"At ease soldier. What happened?" With his order to relax she did, in a way that marines did. Still standing with he back straight she dropped her hand and looked at him.

"I made the mistake of going swimming with my gun, sir. Appropriate actions should be taken." She was more than ready to do laps and be sent to do extra work. After a year at this base she still could not fully relax or get used to the way somethings were done.

"Swimming? Really?" Captain Lennox said doubtfully. "Are you sure a certain two Lamborghini's had nothing to do with it?" He looked passed her at the two said mech's who grimaced and eyed Ironhide warily. The black weapon's specialist had been wanting a reason to punish the two sing the pink polka-dot incident a week ago.

"Sir, yes, sir!" She stood at attention again and, "I thought it would be nice to go for a swim, sir." A marine never rolled on a comrade no matter how irritating and pissy the others were. William Lennox looked the young marine over. She was barely within the requirements seeing as her height was at the lowest it could be at five foot three and her weight barely peeked minimum too at one ten. Her red hair had natural dark highlights and her hard brown orbs were flecked with blue.

"You thought swimming, with your weapon, would be a good idea?" She replied with the automatic 'Sir, yes, sir!' then he continued, "just like you thought shaving bald while you slept would be a good idea? Or dying your own skin blue was smart too? Even painting Ironhide with pink spots and covering yourself in the incriminating paint?" He knew. Every bot knew. Most every soldier knew. But she was a marine.

"Sir yes sir!" She yelled out.

And marines don't roll on their comrades.

.~:*:~.

Kneeling in front of another soldier Lieutenant Corporal Jayden Ashton Mitchel was awaiting their next instructed move. Training was as grueling as ever with Ironhide yelling out orders of what to do if the cons had human allies or holoforms active. Her partner was a large navy seal man who had looked her over with disgust. He had even muttered about something she had to bite her tongue at to keep from lashing out, "always knew the Marines were for pussy's. Hell they even let them in, as weak as they are."

"Switch!" Ironhide yelled out as she landed on her back, hard, due to the seal. "Now those of you that had been labeled as Con allies are to do as the bot allies had. Let's see who had been paying attention. First to successfully do all of the moves I had ordered will be released from training." Jayden got into position and awaited for him to give the order. "Attack!"

Attack she did. Ruthlessly, as if the seal really was a con ally, she went through the entire maneuver and missed not a beat. Upon finishing she stood up straight and saluted Ironhide. He was unsurprised that she had been the only one to get it correct. She did most times. But unlike most times she chose to leave this training session.

Normally a dedicated soldier she stayed for an entire training session and took and gave as good as she got. The only time she had chosen to leave before was when she had successfully completed a maneuver he had showed them her partner, angered, attacked her. Had Ironhide not ordered her to go to Ratchet for the obviously dislocated shoulder she would have stayed. He wondered why she had left this time. Something was different about her. Perhaps it was the lack of light in her eyes.

The doors had just closed before she stalked back in and headed to the opposite direction. The showers awaited her now as she dripped lime green paint across the bunker room. Jayden's hands were fisted and she shook with the amount of anger flowing through her. The showers door closed behind her and Ironhide yelled out "Lieutenant-!" But he was too late and the holoform of Sideswipe fizzed out of existence and Jayden reentered the bunker room.

Her white teeth (though they had a slight green hue) were barred and while the green of her skin and clothes was less noticeable white feathers flowed about her. Her steps were hash and not one of the soldiers in the training area dared say anything to the absolutely fuming girl. As much as some of them enjoyed the pranks she ended up being the target of they dared not say anything because they knew that she was at the top of the class.

It would be an utter embarrassment for any of them to get their asses handed to them by a short, nearly bald, green girl covered in feathers. She stalked to the door and and Ironhide told the soldiers to get back to work while he transformed down, activated his holoform and followed after the girl. He would bare witness to her finally giving the twins up and he would enjoy handing the two afts over to Prowl.

"Lieutenant Corporal Mitchel," Sargent Epps said in shock. Reaching out he grabbed a feather that was stuck to her nose.

"Let me guess," Captain Lennox said dryly, "You thought it was a good idea to swim in three gallons of our missing paint, tear open a shipment of missing pillows and cover yourself in them?" He wished this girl would just turn the twins in already and they could punish the two and finish with it.

"Sir," She ground out not moving her tightly clenched jaw. Was she going to turn them in this time? "Yes, sir." Her arm stained to move to her head and she winced. "Permission to seek Ratchets attentions? The paint is apparently fast dry acrylic." Unbending her arm he noticed how the paint had dried to itself and torn her cammies. He winced figuring that while her jaw was clenched in anger it was also clenched in pain and unwillingness to move it and cause more pain.

"Granted. Sargent Epps, would be willing to escort the Lieutenant Corporal to Ratchet and make sure she... doesn't have any other good ideas?" Epps gave his friend a lazy salute and began to walk with Jayden to Ratchet. She was having trouble moving for her pants had for the most part dried. "Ironhide?"

"It was those fragging twins, and I know it! If she doesn't turn on them soon they will forever torment her." He grumbled gruffly though his eyes went misty like as he used his other form you yell at the soldiers for starting to get lazy. "Optimus is beginning to believe its time to take action against the two and throw them in the brig with or without her telling us who it is tormenting her."

"'Wasn't it you that had been happy they had begun to harass her?"

"Primus, Will. That was nine months ago when they first started to. I never thought it would go on for this long. I figured one or two pranks later they would either get bored or she would tell us and we'd take action." He ran a hand through his holoforms hair, a habit he had picked up from Will's wife, Sarah, whenever he was visiting Anna.

"I wonder how much longer she can go before she tells us it's them." Will muttered. Any other soldier had told him that the twins were doing shit but not this girl. Even several other marines who had held out for one or two pranks had in the end told the truth to it. Before either could utter a word Epps came back in with sparkles coating him.

"The twins." He growled out. Even if Jayden wouldn't flip on the terrible twins he would. Ironhide let a grin split his face before dissolving and telling the soldiers they were dismissed from training. He had a set of twins that needed their helms bashed together before getting brig time. He passed by the medbay and decided to warn Ratchet that the twins might have a few dents he needed to bang out. A pained sound came from within and when he found Jayden he winced. She was nearly naked and Ratchets holoform was plucking the feather's off of her face. The bright red of blood made his own energon boil. Those twins were going to be fragged.

"If it's about those two fraggin twins I don't want to hear it. Let them suffer from a few menial dents in the brig." The CMO (Combat Medical Officer) growled out as he plucked another feather and Jayden began to bleed more, oddly the sparkles that made her appear many different colors made it look twice as gruesome. She still had about twenty stuck in her hair and half of her face still.

"Good," Ironhide almost purred. He was going to give them more than just a few dents and scratches.

The sound of clanging, yells, and a few cannon blasts reached the medbay making Jayden jump in surprise, were they under attack?

Ironhide, having managed to dent the twins, destroy their pant jobs and blacken them with fire that nearly hit them was finally satisfied and brought the two to the brig. Prowl was sitting there calm and enjoying a moment of peace. But upon seeing the nearly unrecognizable of the twins his mood got even better. "She finally tell on them?" He asked way too happy for the logical Prowl everyone knew. Everyone was also hoping that the human femme marine would roll on these two soon.

"No. They accidentally got Epps on a joke meant for her. Though she too was as sparkly as Epps was when I saw her. He ratted them out. Ratchet says the Lieutenant Corporal claims to have no idea how the sparkles came about. The Femme still refuses to say anything about these two fraggers getting her."

"Hmm," Prowl suddenly looked normal and not as hopeful as before. He was calculating something, "at least if she's ever taken prisoner by the cons we don't have to worry about her subcoming to their torture tactics and telling anything. If she can last this long with nearly daily pranks from these two," He grabbed the whining twins and tossed them into separate brigs, much to their displeasure, "she surely can survive their torture without saying anything. She'll either escape, a two percent possibility, get rescued by by us, a nineteen percent possibility, or die, a seventy-nine percent possibility, first."

Ironhide grimaced, just thinking of the torture methods the cons had. That and the fact that with Prowls ability to think these things through he was more than likely right. If she could make it close to a human year dealing with the pranks of these two she would never give up words about them to the cons.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Should I Stay Or Should I go?

It was a nice three days for Jayden and by the fourth she was beaming. The twins had apparently finally given up on her and she was free. Sitting down at the lunch table she was about to bite into her sandwich when she smelled vinegar. Setting her sandwich down she lifted the top piece of bread off to find a thin plastic thing filed with the liquid. Poking it it shattered almost like a water balloon and she barely dodged the few that came at her.

Standing up she looked around and saw no one. Figuring that after failing, for the first time, to get a prank on her they retreated. With a sigh she realized that it had only been a short reprieve that they had- she froze in the doorway as a bucket of vinegar burned her eyes, nose, and the many cute upon her flesh.

Unable to move she tried to breath only to be suffocated by the overpowering odor that vinegar gave off. It was like shoving her face in a bag of salt and vinegar chips, only ten times worse. Shakily she reached up with burning hands, feathers had adorned her flesh there too, to remove the bucket. In front of her down the hall a few feet she saw two identical faces grinning and they winked at her.

This. Was. It!

Throwing the bucket against the wall and screaming (the sound of anger over shadowed the pain that leaved into her voice) she was going to do something drastic. Life be damned. Well two something but the first she needed to get on tonight the other would be tomorrows reward. For now though she needed to clean off and deal with her bleeding face for many of the scabs had cracked and were bleeding once again. She stalked passed the shocked looking twins and was heading for the showers.

They had no idea why she had begun to bleed. Perhaps the liquid they used was acidic like the rain back on Cybertron. Deciding to ask a human and not risk getting caught by Prowl, Ironhide, or Ratchet they found a soldier walking towards them. "Epps," Sideswipe called, his brother would never talk to a squishy unless he was forced to, "what would vinegar do if poured onto one of you felshies?"

The dark skinned soldier seemed to think about it before wincing. Already not a good sign. Looking slightly unsure about answering he decided to just in case, "nothing but cause a smell to hang around for a few days. But try not to get Lieutenant Corporal with that. You're feather joke tore her face up pretty bad and if she gets doused in that it would likely cause the scabs to crack and bleed. The liquid in any of her cuts would burn like hel-" the twins winced.

They did not mean to hurt her only have fun with the femme. They actually kind of liked her. She was a good sport never telling on them though they wished for her to try and retaliate for fun. "What do you mean the feather tore her face up?" Sunstreaker asked. He liked her just a bit more than his brother because all soldiers had to wash the transformers and when she had been assigned him she was nice and didn't scratch his paint unlike several others.

"The paint you two used stuck to her skin and when Ratchet worked on removing it he had to get the feathers off first. They were like super glued to her skin or something. She had top take a hazard bath to get a layer of paint of. Heard Ratchet made her take three before letting her go with orders to take this week easy. You two didn't set up a trap for her did you?" His words made them wince and grimace before deactivating their holoforms. They decided to take it easy on her and let her be for the rest of her temporary medical break. It was getting late anyway and they decided tonight they would recharge as scheduled.

After showering she still smelled but it was not as bad. Still it would be days before the smell of vinegar left. Ironhide had been working on cleaning his weapons and she thought it was the small that had alerted him to her presence because he looked at her like she had grown a second head. "I need your help. Tonight I want to..."

.~:*:~.

"Hey, Captain Lennox wants you to report to the pool immediately. Said it was important," Jayden said to the army soldier that was manning the security screens. Epps stood behind her and gave the soldier a nod before taking the now vacated seat. Jayden used a manual override to make all the computers turn and face away from the hanger where most of the bots were resting.

He looked at his watch hit a timer then she left. Ten minutes and counting. Outside of the hanger there were four busters filled and covered that she had little trouble lifting, as a marine she was pretty strong for a girl her size. Hiding behind Bumblebee who was opposite Ironhide she saw the large black bot flick his lights twice. The twins were both in a deep the buckets down she moved quickly to stick a magnet on both their doors.

The magnet was designed by N.E.S.T. For Decepticon's to keep them locked in what ever forms they were and unable to feel anything. With A jimmy that had bee hidden in her pants leg she got to work on Sunstreaker first. His lock clicked quietly and with a check of her watch she saw she had eight minutes left. Door opened manually she grabbed two buckets and put them inside of him and took off the lids then quickly and quietly closing his door after locking it again.

The same treatment was done to Sideswipe and once both were bone she removed the magnets and with the four lids dove behind Bumblebee again. Looking towards Ironhide he flashed his lights twice letting her know the duo was still asleep. He promised to call her when he woke up tomorrow morning an hour before most other bots did. She wanted to see their reaction when the woke.

Three minutes left she made a run for the door and was back in the security room with half a minute to spare. The manual override was released and the camera's fell back into position. Leaning casually against the desk she started a random conversation with Epps, "-then he was like, 'Oh hell no!' before jumping an knocking me into the pool- oh, hey. What did Lennox want?" she said as the guy on security detail returned.

"Dunno. He wasn't there when I entered so I figured he didn't need me anymore and came back." HE said and she looked at Epps before shrugging.

"Anyway as I was saying my brother knocked us both in the pool and at the time the dumbass forgot neither of us could swim." Epps laughed just because it seemed like she had been aiming for a funny story as a cover up for what they had been talking about.

Now just to wait for tomorrow morning.

.~:*:~.

By five Jayden was up and ready though she had another hour to get ready. Ironhide had called five minutes ago and she was anxious to see how her prank was received. A folder of papers was then picked up and carried to the hanger where Ironhide was seated drinking a cube of energon. "You were fast, Lieutenant Corp-"

"Just call me Jayden. After this we are too close to go by anything but first names." She sat down next to his pede, or foot, and took out a pen and began signing the many papers. It took a while but she signed the last one just as the other bots began to come out of recharge. Ironhide caught the wicked smile that flashed over her face before she got control over herself again. Looking up at him she sent him a wink, "you might wanna record this."

Chuckling before doing as she suggested; he knew he would enjoy watching this for years to come. Sideswipe transformed before realizing something was off. Sunstreaker was luckier because he realized it before moving. His holoform flicked to life and his door opened. Reaching in he took out the pails of vinegar stunk his inside up and was leaking out of Sideswipe. The sound the red twin was making was far too high pitched for any human to hear but every bot was now up and awake. They all could smell the two. Sunstreaker was the lest stinky of the two due to having remove the buckets before crushing them in a transformation.

Horror was written over Sunstreker as he flinched away from his interior. Though there was a small plastic package there with a taped on note. 'Sprinkle over carpets. By end of day smell should be gone.' His lip twitched. He liked her. Side's probably ruined his when changing. Sprinkling the white powder over his carpets she noticed an almost immediate effect as the smell of pine nearly over took the vinegar. In the front seat he found a second pack, 'in case your brother destroys his.' He really liked that girl.

Subspacing the packet for his brother, he's let the glitch suffer for a day or two. He transformed before moving away from the smell his brother gave off. Dear Primus, he may just hand the packet over to get away from that smell. "Oh!" A far too familiar female's voice called out, "Captain Lennox!" She raced away from where she had been mostly hidden by Ironhide to catch up with the Captain. "Here." She passed him the folder and confusedly he looked at him.

Shock choked him and he looked from it to her. It took him a minute before he got himself under control and sighed. "Galloway is not going to like this." He grumbled. "It'll take a few days for the paperwork to go through and then it all depends on if you will get an honorary or dishonorable discharge. You do know if it is a dishonorable one they want to give you, you will have a hell of a time getting a job anywhere-"

"Discharge? Ironhide asked moving to loom over the humans. "My search has pulled up honorable and dishonorable discharge as leaving the militia." Neither Will or Jayden said anything so he looked down at the femme, "I thought we were friends." He said harshly before tuning to go to the specially designed weapons range, made for just him.

"I- I have- Ironhide, wait!" She called after him but the large bot was gone. Jesus these bots would be the end of her. If the twins let her survive because of her pranks, and if she survived their to come, then it would be her new friend guilting her. "Captain?" She looked at will and he recognized just how young the twenty year-old was.

"I never saw this." He said passing the folder back to her. She took it before running a hand though her hair, she needed to pull that up to be in regulation. Large fingers grabbed her file and the over powering smell of vinegar left to sit open over night told her exactly who it was. Tossing it to his brother Sunstreaker aimed a blaster at it and fired, incinerating her papers instantly.

Neither said a word to her and both walked away. What the hell was going on today! Everything was going haywire! Ironhide was apparently upset with her for trying to escape from the torture this place has become and they twins weren't pissed at her for the prank. Albeit she did leave removal scents in Sunstreaker, the vain mech would have noticed something was off long before his brother did so she had trusted he would find the scents.

"Lieutenant Corporal Jayden Ashton Mitchel," the unmistakable and deep voice of Optimus Prime said as she was cast into shadow. She could see the obvious shape of him in the shadow. Turning around she looked up to him only to be met with him kneeling and a hand placed upon the ground. He was silent as he saw the contemplation flash over her face. He found it interesting how much humans expressed so freely this way alone.

Jayden figured that at this point she had nothing to lose and getting in his hand and talking with him would just make this weird day wieder. Sadly it wasn't even eight.

"Ironhide asked me last night, after your secret retaliation against the twins," he chuckled as she sputtered and turned a bright red. "Do not worry, young one, you are in no trouble for that. Many of us think that it is about time you acted. But as I was saying, last night be your guardian." He watched as that information sunk in. "He was originally wanting to be the Lennox's guardian but Sarah vetoed Will's choice. She did not think that such a large truck was the best for little Annabelle. They have Lochtuning now for her alternate mode is a minivan. While Ironhide took on guarding Will upon base and out on missions he still wishes for someone to be his friend."

"There's a lot of soldier's on this base. Why me? Why all of a sudden do I matter?" Jayden looked down at the ground far below. She sometime wondered if she could survive a fall from one of these beings, "I'm nothing special."

"He respects you. Knows how strong you are for putting up with the twins for all these months. Ironhide finds you strong and worthy of his guardianship. To find out that you are planning to quite, to leave us, has upset him. He does not generally make 'friends' with our human allies." Optimus looked towards the large doors that had slammed behind Ironhide. His sensitive hearing could make out every Cybertronian word he sputtered out.

"It's stupid to make friends," she mumbled, "it's a war. You'll only lose them." Letting out a breath she looked towards the door too. Friends were something she sorely missed.

"Yes, there is that possibility. But what do you fight for if not for your friends and family? What do you have to continue living for if not for them?"

"Everyone?" Jayden looked up at him. "I fight for everyone. The lives of those I know and do not know. Freedom. You life the lives of the soldiers. I fight not for myself but everyone."

"Then why would you wish to be discharged?" Optimus was getting close to the large doors that his Ironhide from her view.

"I- I don't know. I don't think I can mentally keep up with their jokes anymore. I feel weary and tired, like I've never been before."

"If it is taking that kind of effect upon you, then why have you not told us about them doing this to you?"

"A marine never gives his comrades up. Not even to a higher up. We are to be a team, a family, and no matter our disputes we can not give anyone up least we want to risk being unable to work together and in the field that will get a marine killed. My father would rise from the dead to beat me and drag me down with him if he ever knew I 'tattled' on someone like that." When Optimus made a confused sound she chuckled, "it's a saying, Optimus Prime, just a silly human saying."

"Perhaps you should talk to Ironhide about this guardianship request of his," and with that Optimus entered the training area, deposited her in Ironhide's shocked servos, or hands, then left.


End file.
